Investing.com – U.S. equities traded mostly lower on Monday, as investors anticipated an interest hike on Wednesday while healthcare stocks lagged.
In what was a subdued day on Wall Street, U.S. equities were restricted to a narrow a trading range, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting on March 14-15, as investors’ expectation of a rate hike later this week soared to its highest level.
According to Investing.com’s Fed rate monitor tool, 93% of traders expect the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to hike interest rates from 0.75% to 1% on Wednesday.
Financials, mainly banks, moved higher on the prospect of an increase in interest rates but ultimately failed to move the broader market as healthcare stocks lagged.
Healthcare stocks slumped in early morning trade as market participants awaited an update from the Congressional Budget Office, which is expected to reveal an estimate of how many people would have health insurance coverage under a Republican proposal that seeks to replace Obamacare.
Healthcare stocks have been in focused recently, after President Trump claimed in a tweet last week that he will bring drug prices “way down”.
In corporate news, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) shares came under pressure, after the company announced a plan to buy Israeli driverless technology firm Mobileye (NYSE:MBLY) for $15.3 billion. Shares of Intel nosedived 2% while shares of Mobileye jumped nearly 30%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 0.13% lower at 20,876. The S&P 500 traded flat while the Nasdaq Composite traded 0.21% higher at 5,873.